Wall lighting fixtures arc commonly used in commercial, residential, and public access buildings. Such wall lighting fixtures include the common term "sconces" that mount flush onto a wall and contain a light source (such as an incandescent or one or more fluorescent lamps). These wall sconces include an integral light diffuser that commonly projects outward from the wall and into an area, such as a room, corridor or other opening, by a distance greater than four (4) inches.
Lighting fixtures placed in public access buildings must now conform to the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 which has as one of its requirement a limitation on a distance from which devices, such as lighting fixtures, extend from sidewalls, corridors or passageways to be no greater than four (4) inches. This four (4) inch requirement is applicable from a height of about 27 inches (27") from the floor to a height of about 80 inches (80") from the floor. This requirement has created a strong driving force on the lighting industry to provide conforming wall sconces in such public access buildings as well as in hospitality, managed housing, restaurants, and retail store facilities. It is required that wall sconces be provided with means to limit their outward extent from walls to be no greater than four inches.
The light diffusers of the wall sconces provide the lighting fixture with different types of lighting patterns, such as indirect lighting, direct lighting, and combinations thereof. The use of different materials for the light diffusers achieve different lighting patterns and even different colored lighting patterns. For example, these diffusers may be either translucent or opaque to produce different light diffusion characteristics desired for different lighting applications. Further, the light diffusers may be selected to have different styles, such as shapes, textures and finishes to provide different lighting aesthetics. It is desired that means for the wall sconces be provided that allows the light diffusers to be conveniently changed so as to provide different lighting patterns and the different styles that meets the need of various lighting applications.
In addition to the light diffusers, the orientation of the light source of the wall sconce, which is determined by the orientation of the (recessed) lighting fixture itself, may also be arranged so as to provide for particular types of lighting such as up-lighting, down-lighting, or combinations thereof. These different types of lighting patterns are selected for particular requirements for the lighting application. The orientation of the recessed wall lighting fixture is dependent on the selection of a particular diffuser that may provide a certain light pattern or aesthetic style. The combination of various diffuser media and styles affords the user a wide selection of light patterns and style options.
Recessed wall lighting fixtures may be installed into new buildings under construction or into finished buildings. The installment of a recessed wall lighting fixture into a building under construction must accommodate the mounting onto wood or some other material, such as metal or masonry, frame members, such as support studs, exposed during new construction. Conversely, for finished buildings the recessed wall lighting fixture must accommodate the mounting onto a finished wall because stud framing members are no longer exposed. It is desired that means be provided to allow the recessed wall lighting fixtures to be installed into either buildings under construction or into finished walls of completed facilities.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a recessed wall lighting fixture having the capability of being installed into buildings that are either under construction or in their finished condition.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a recessed wall lighting fixture that may be oriented in either a horizontal or a vertical orientation so as to allow for up-lighting, down-lighting and combinations thereof.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a recessed wall lighting fixture having means that allow the associated light diffusers to be conveniently connected and reconnected so as to provide different lighting patterns, different diffuser styles and allow for the maintenance thereof in an easy and rapid manner without disturbing the electrical connections and components therein.
Moreover, it is an object to the present invention to provide recessed wall lighting fixtures that accommodate associated light diffusers which limits the outward extent of these light diffusers from the wall to be no more than four (4) inches so as to more than satisfy the requirement of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.